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Tuesday, 6 July 2010

A present from me is on the way...

A big thank you to everyone who took part in my first ever blog giveaway. Thank you so much for your keen participation, making it such a successful event :)

To give is always better than to receive. Prior to this giveaway, I have no idea that there are many readers who have been silently following my blogs these years. I am thankful that you have broke your silence and took time to leave your comments. Through your comments, I found myself landing on so many wonderful blogs. It is very unlikely I have the chance to stumble upon them since I have to cut down on blog-hopping so as to be a more responsible mother, tuition teacher, cook, housekeeper, etc, etc!

I am delighted to know that there are actually many people out there in our region, who share the same interest like me...creating delicious homemade cakes, breads and desserts for their families and friends; and for those who keeps a blog would generously share their wonderful tips and recipes with the rest of the world. Not everyone I know share the same interest. I only make it known to three of my friends that I am keeping this blog, anyway, they were the ones who encouraged me to start a blog in the first place. Reading your comments warms my heart, it makes me want to believe that I actually have so many friends out there.

Since this is the first time I am hosting a blog giveaway, after assigning a running number to each participating reader, I thought of ways to pick the lucky winner. Initially, I have wanted to do it in an old fashioned way, ie, writing the names in slips of paper and get my kids to draw the winner. I even thought of using a Bingo game set to spin out a lucky number! But, I had to drop the idea when the number of participants went past a hundred! I have never expected such an overwhelming response. In the end, I have to fall back to the online randomizer to generate pick the winner. It is not as fun, but it does serve its purpose...

and the lucky number that appeared on my screen is...Number 16!

Congratulations to Hearty Bakes, you have won the bottle of Nielsen-Massey's pure vanilla extract! (Please leave a comment stating your mailing address and email address and I'll send the gift right over to you.)

To the rest of you, I hope you are not too disappointed. One reader, Pris, left a comment saying that the vanilla extract is available at Phoon Huat (Hougang branch). For local readers who are interested to get the vanilla extract, you may want to check with that store.

22 comments:

OMG did i see wrongly early in the morning?! I have never won anything in any lucky draw lol!Thank you so much for your generosity. Appreciate your gift and looking forward to share bakes using this lovely gift. Many thanks again!my email: heartybakes@yahoo.com

Definitely not disappointed, I'm happy for hearty bakes to win this gift.

I'm also like you, not many friends or even family know that I actually have a blog dedicated to baking. You know why your blog is so popular? Besides your easy and fail-proof recipes, baking tips, great photography, there's a special 亲切感 in you. Reading your blog makes me feel like you are one of my old friends, sharing about your family and your life.

Thanks for this special giveaway. I hope more local bloggers can do this to share and have fun! I'm on!

Thanks a lot HHB for organizing this giveaway. It was fun participating in it and seeing so many like-minded bloggers/bakers/food lovers gathering here.

Congrats to Hearty bakes on the win and hope to see her bake soon using this premium vanilla extract.

For the rest who are interested in getting the Nielsen-Massey's pure vanilla extract, it is also available at toa payoh branch Phoon Huat and marsiling branch Phoon Huat. Do give these branches a call to check the availability cos they are out of stock sometimes and to prevent any disappointment of an empty trip.

Hi, May I know where can get the Nielsen-Massey's pure vanilla extract in US? Carrefour or?? What is price and how long is the expriy date? As my sister is going to US next month, I may ask her to get some for me.

Congrats to Hearty Bakes! HHB, and it was VERY kind of you to host such a giveaway event! Well, who doesn't love PURE vanilla extract! It's one of the most versatile ingredients one could ever come to know of!

In the meantime, no worries about blog hopping and dropping comments. I know all of us are busy with our lives outside of the cyber world. We don't just live online, right? ;) Me, too ... I'm SO worn out by so many things, including some ridiculous folks at work. =(

Hey, btw, I'm thinking of going down to SG sometime soon. Wanna meet up with me? I'm thinking of a larger meet-up among floggers. No way for me to go visit all of the SG bloggers one on one!! TOO many of you in SG! Haha! Lemme know, K? I'll shoot y'all a mail once I've had things figured out. =)

Take care till then! I'll always be your fan! It's been long, long time since I started reading your blog.

Dear all, thanks for leaving your kind comments, especially since the giveaway is now over and you are not even the winner. How I wish I could send everyone of you a gift!

Thanks Bakertan for your info!

SSB, thanks for all the support and encouragement you have given me all these years :)

Hi JJ, we got it from Wholefoods market…a supermarket that sells natural and organic products. You can visit their website (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) to check for the store location. A 4oz bottle is around US$10 (before sales tax, every state has got a different tax rate, unlike our fixed GST rate).

or, you can go to the Nielsen Massey's site to look for a retail store in the US: (http://www.nielsenmassey.com/storesearch.htm)

This pure vanilla extract can keep very long, there is no expiry date printed on the bottle, but I read that it can last for years if kept at the right condition.

Hi Pei Lin, thanks for the invite :) I am afraid I won't be able to join you, my husband is totally against the idea of me meeting up with 'strangers'...especially he is always not at home. I hope you have a wonderful gathering here!

Aimei, I got the box from Daiso, so lovely and appropriate right? with the word "recipes' on it :)

lovelyloey,I had fun hosting this little giveaway. I'm sure you can do one too :)

I totally agree that your blog is one of the best! Easy recipes with detailed step by step instructions. Not forgetting the useful tips (even to small details such as how to make use of whatever we have at home instead of spending $ to buy and tips on how to minimise no of dishes to wash)

It also warms my heart to see all the pretty food / bake that you prepared for your family.

Last but not least, you always there to provide help & advices to all and this really encourage beginners like myself to start baking.

Quote"I have to cut down on blog-hopping so as to be a more responsible mother, tuition teacher, cook, housekeeper, etc, etc!"

I can fully understand this! I'm also trying spend more time with my kids and less baking. In fact, I'm also trying to cut down on cooking and spend more time to sit down with DD1 on her school work. Life is not easy being a sahm juggling with school-going children!

Life is full of surprises, actually I find my instructions very long winded! Don't you think so? I am really getting old you know! Those instructions are the answers to my own questions whenever I tried out a recipe. I have to put it down in words, otherwise I will forget it very soon ;)

Hi Blessed Homemaker, I just read somewhere, I thought I should share it with you this line: "We should be bonding with our children and not the stove." I guess it also applies to the oven and computer ;) But the reality is, it is no fun sitting down with your own children to go thru their work with them, most of the time, I find myself being driven up the wall!

I don't find your instructions long winded at all. Infact it really help me to clear all the ??? in my head when I try out your recipes. It is your blog that encouroage me to bake with my kids. You are just so inspiring!